Majority still trust, approve of Duterte, Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte, Vice President Leni Robredo and Senate President Vicente Sotto III enjoyed majority approval and trust ratings in June, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey.

The Preisdent’s approval rating was 85 percent in June, down from 87 percent in March, while his trust rating stayed at 85 percent, the results of the survey taken from June 24 to 30 showed.

Pulse Asia noted that the President’s approval “remains essentially unchanged” as the movement in his rating was within the poll’s plus-or-minus 2.8 percentage points margin of error.

Robredo’s approval rating, rose between March and June from 49 percent to 55 percent. Her trust rating also went up from 47 percent to 52 percent.

Robredo got the highest approval and trust ratings in Visayas, both at 57 percent.

However, in Metro Manila, the Vice President’s approval rating went down 10 points to 34 percent, while her trust rating declined 12 points to 31 percent. Her trust rating also declined among class ABC, from 46 percent to 33 percent.

Across geographical areas and socioeconomic classes, majority trusted and approved of the work of Duterte and Sotto.

Sotto got an approval rating of 77 percent, a 12-point increase from 65 percent in March, and a trust rating of 73 percent from 61 percent in March.

The approval and trust rating of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo improved from 22 percent to 26 percent and from 19 percent to 22 percent, respectively.

Arroyo’s approval rating across areas and classes ranged from 18 percent to 40 percent while her trust rating ranged from 11 percent to 32 percent.

Forty-one percent approved of the work of Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, up from 38 percent, while 35 percent trusted him, unchanged from March.

Pulse Asia used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents.

Political analyst Victor Andres Manhit, founder of the think tank Stratbase, attributed the President’s continued popularity to the perception that his administration has addressed concerns affecting them.

He said issues of alleged extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs and his policy toward China has not diminished Duterte’s strong support.

“[The two issues] are not top-of-mind issues for the Filipino people,” Manhit said.

“There is really support from the community. It might be misplaced support but you cannot deny that this constituency … is amply supportive of the drug war because they see it as a peace and order initiative,” he said, citing surveys over the past three years showing that around 78 to 88 percent of Filipinos back the war on drugs.